The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 58

Lin Pingzhi, however, shook his head earnestly: "It's not hard work."

He understood Jiang Ning's thoughts and knew that Jiang Ning was training their combat skills. Otherwise, Jiang Ning could have dealt with these bandits by himself. Jiang Ning did this so that they could grow up as quickly as possible, which is why he always fought very hard.

"In that case, let's move on to the next location."

Jiang Ning nodded, then took out a signal arrow from his pocket, went to a wide open space, lit the fuse with a tinderbox, and threw it into the sky.

call out!

The signal rocket shot straight into the sky, exploded with a bang, and transformed into a silver-white longsword that lingered in mid-air for a long time.

at the foot of the mountain.

"Ok?"

A villager from Huaming Village raised his left hand to shield his forehead and looked up at the sky, where he saw the giant silver-white sword.

Upon seeing the signal coming from the mountain, the villager's face lit up with excitement, and he quickly told his companions.

"Young Master Jiang and his men have successfully suppressed the bandits. Who will go to Hanzhong to report?"

Yan is the surname of the man named Songnian.

"I!"

Immediately, a commoner volunteered, and before anyone could finish speaking, he mounted a horse that had been prepared and galloped towards Hanzhong.

With Jiang Ning's approval, Wang Yuan and the villagers of Huaming Village not only opened a breeding farm, but also bought horses.

After sending out the signal arrow, Jiang Ning turned to look at the crowd.

"let's go."

There were carriages at the foot of the mountain where they could rest. By the time they reached their destination, they would be rested enough to quickly engage in the next fierce battle.

Three days later.

"Junior brothers and sisters."

At the foot of an unnamed mountain, Lao Denuo stood in front of an open space, with a dozen or so Huashan disciples standing before him.

At this moment, Laudenuo looked excited and said in a slightly agitated tone: "The mountain behind us is our final target. Our senior brother is also the last one. As long as we take this mountain stronghold today, we will be number one."

"I know that all of you junior brothers and sisters have been exhausted and tired these past few days, but you must think about it. In these past few days, we have wiped out five mountain strongholds. Haven't we seen enough of the miserable lives of the people inside? Can we still stop? Can our hearts bear it?"

"The new goal is on the mountain, how can we stand still!"

"The task of suppressing bandits is of utmost urgency; the time to rid the people of this scourge is now!"

Laudenau spoke with great enthusiasm, as if he had been given a second spring.

"Please hang in there a little longer. If we can finish today, we will win. Then I will personally treat you to a good meal at Tianxiang Restaurant in Xi'an Prefecture."

Laudenau was spitting as he spoke, his hands gesturing in the air as he delivered his speech with great passion.

According to the disciple who reported the progress, Linghu Chong's progress was on par with theirs, while Jiang Ning's team was a step behind. If nothing unexpected happened, the winner of this bandit suppression would be from his and Linghu Chong's team.

For the sake of the Zixia Divine Skill, even Laudenuo, who had always been a slacker, felt full of energy.

As long as he obtains this part of the Zixia Divine Skill, he will have made a great contribution to the Songshan Sect, and Zuo Lengchan will surely give him an extremely generous reward.

Putting aside other aspects, Zuo Lengchan was known for his clear and consistent approach to rewards and punishments, never being stingy with his word.

Although the Huashan disciples looked slightly tired, their spirits were clearly lifted. They felt full of energy, especially when they heard Laudenuo's promise, which surprised them all.

Tianxianglou is a restaurant in Xi'an Prefecture. A meal there costs a lot of money. Lao Denuo used to be an apprentice, so he had some savings. By saying this now, he meant he was going to use his life savings to treat them to a meal.

"it is good!"

"Don't worry, Second Brother, we can still fight!"

"I can take on three more!"

Since Lao Denuo had said so, the Huashan disciples were very respectful.

A smile appeared on Laudenau's face.

"set off!"

With a wave of his hand, Laudenau led his large group up the mountain.

……

"What? Take a break?"

Lin Pingzhi looked at Jiang Ning with great surprise, and the other Huashan disciples were also very puzzled.

Jiang Ning smiled and said, "Thank you all for your hard work these past few days. Now we only have this last bandit stronghold left. In order to be in better condition, let's rest today and go up the mountain to eliminate the bandits tomorrow."

"But senior brother."

Lin Pingzhi looked anxious: "The eldest and second senior brothers have almost finished their work. If we don't speed up, we'll be last. It doesn't matter to us, but you'll only get a small portion of Master's Purple Cloud Divine Skill, less than the eldest and second senior brothers."

"Yes, junior brother, we're fine, don't worry."

Du Lanyin also said.

The other disciples shared the same thought; they were on the verge of giving it their all, just one step away from success, but they were held back.

Jiang Ning laughed again, "Junior Brother Lin, fellow senior brothers and sisters, the purpose of this bandit suppression is to rid the people of a scourge. As for the Purple Cloud Divine Skill given to us by Master, that's secondary. What does it matter if it's first or third?"

Seeing that he was really determined to rest, Du Lanyin, Qiaojun and the others had no choice but to rest in an inn in a nearby town. They assumed that Jiang Ning did not want to compete with his senior brothers.

Jiang Ning checked the weather, calculated the time, and then told everyone that he would be practicing in his room and that they didn't need to come looking for him.

Practicing martial arts requires complete concentration, and being suddenly disturbed by others could easily lead to a qi deviation. Therefore, after hearing Jiang Ning's words, Lin Pingzhi and the others solemnly nodded and promised not to disturb him.

After everyone nodded and went back to their rooms to rest, Jiang Ning quietly left the inn, went to a secluded place, took the horses that had been prepared in advance, and galloped off in a certain direction after leaving the town.

Chapter 92: It's Raining

……

"kill!"

The shouts of battle shook the heavens as Lao Denuo led his Huashan disciples in a fierce fight against the bandits of the mountain stronghold.

It was already close to night, and Lao Denuo was really risking his life to get more of the Zixia Divine Skill. After more than ten days, he felt like his bones had become lighter.

But Laudenau persisted and remained at the forefront of the fight against bandits.

"Kill!"

Laudenau shouted excitedly, his beard swaying with his movements.

The stronghold had a large number of people, making it extremely difficult for Lao Denuo and his group to deal with. Fortunately, they were all fellow disciples and worked together well. Although it was a tough fight, they still gained the upper hand.

This bandit stronghold was more difficult to conquer than they had imagined. It took Lao Denuo and the other Huashan disciples a great deal of effort to defeat them.

The bandit's lair was littered with corpses, and the stench of blood was overwhelming.

Under the moonlight, Shi Daizi, Tao Jun, and other Huashan disciples stared coldly at the fleeing bandits, even the youngest among them, Shu Qi, wore a fierce expression.

Their robes were stained with blood, and some of the disciples had knife wounds on their bodies.

"Run!"

"Oh my God."

After their last leader was killed, the bandits scattered and fled.

Seeing them about to run away, Shu Qi shouted first.

"kill!"

After saying that, Shu Qi charged towards the fleeing bandits without hesitation.

Bang!

Shu Qi caught up with one of the bandits and kicked him to the ground. The next second, he was about to raise his blood-soaked sword and stab him.

The bandit was terrified and immediately knelt down in front of Shu Qi, begging for mercy.

"Good man, please let me go, please let me go."

The bandit kowtowed desperately to Shu Qi, his forehead hitting the uneven ground, and soon his head was covered in blood.

"Humph."

Shu Qi, who had originally intended to kill the bandit with a single sword strike, sneered twice upon hearing this: "You want me to let you go? Then have you let go of those people you killed?"

During this period, Shu Qi and his group of Huashan disciples wiped out one mountain stronghold and bandit den after another, witnessing many horrific things.

These bandits occupied the mountain and ravaged the local people and passersby. In addition to robbing gold and silver jewelry, they would forcibly take any attractive women back to their stronghold to satisfy their lust. Those who did not cooperate or were no longer to be played with were either killed and left in the back of the mountain or left in the stronghold to serve them. Most of the men were killed or forced to join them.

None of the mountain strongholds and bandit dens that Shu Qi and his group wiped out were exceptions.

Shu Qi and his companions found skeletons in the back mountain. Some of the corpses had been there for so long that they had become piles of bones, while others had only recently died and were not yet fully decomposed. Some of the corpses were in terrible condition, with bite marks all over their bodies. On one occasion, Shu Qi and the other Huashan disciples happened to be there and saw some wild wolves and carrion-eating animals gnawing on these corpses.

These scenes were shocking, far more bloody and cruel than what Shu Qi and his companions had witnessed in Xiangyang City.

Under the influence of Jiangning's language and actions, their mentality has changed imperceptibly. They are becoming increasingly intolerant of these crimes, feeling only burning anger and regretting why these bandit strongholds were not wiped out sooner.

They wished they could kill all these villains.

Seeing the other party's murderous intent growing stronger, the kneeling bandit was so frightened that his legs trembled and he cried out, "This is not my intention! I didn't want to do this in the first place. I am also a victim. I was also persecuted by Chief Wang and his gang. I was forced to join them."

"I don't want to either! I don't want to do evil deeds, and I don't want to mistreat them! But if I don't, Chief Wang and the others won't let me go. I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

He was originally an ordinary citizen. A few years ago, he was robbed by bandits in this mountain stronghold while passing through this area with his wife and daughter. His wife and daughter were raped to death, and he himself was forced to join the stronghold and persecute other victims.

As he said, he didn't want to do it at first, but after the initial pleasure of bullying and abusing others, his heart went from feeling guilty to becoming numb, then addicted, and now he finds pleasure in it.

In fact, many of them were forced into becoming outlaws, but after a long period of this, they have become numb.

"Evil is evil, there's no such thing as wanting or not wanting."

Shu Qi looked at him coldly, then thrust his weapon hard, ending the bandit's life.

What's done is done, no matter the reason.

After killing the bandit, Shu Qi turned to look at the scattered bandits and chased after them, raising his long sword.

Seeing that Shu Qi had begun to chase after these people, the other Huashan disciples caught up one after another, and soon only Lao Denuo and Tao Jun remained.

"Second Senior Brother, the other senior brothers have gone to chase after these bandits. Let's search this mountain stronghold and see if there are any thieves we've missed."

Tao Jun said to Laudenuo.

"it is good."

Laudenau nodded and began searching with Shu Qi.

Boom!

At that moment, a flash of lightning streaked across the dark sky, and soon after, a light drizzle began to fall.

The rain washed away the blood on the ground, and the strong smell of blood dissipated considerably.

"Huh? It's raining?"

Tao Jun wrinkled his nose and muttered to himself as he looked at the sky.

"Hurry up."

Seeing him like this, Laudenau gave him some advice.

Now that the task is nearing its end, he is even more eager to complete this last bandit-suppression mission, and he doesn't care that the drizzling rain is falling on him.

"Okay, senior brother."

Tao Jun nodded and continued to search the mountain stronghold with him.

Not long after they finished searching one of the houses, a figure flashed in the distance, catching their attention.

"Ok?"

A fierce glint flashed in Tao Jun's eyes.

"As expected, there are still some that have been missed."

"Where to go!"

Tao Jun roared angrily, drew his sword, and gave chase.